Free British Voices by William Sheehan Page B

the three services, Army, Navy and Airforce. The horizontal bar was set up first at 5 feet 6 inches, which height presented no problems to any of us. It was then raised one inch after each successful clearance. We all cleared 5 feet 8 inches, but at 5 feet 8 and half inches the Navy team failed and so were out of the running. The Army team continued to 5 feet 9 inches but failed to reach the next half inch as did one of the RAF competitors. The Sgt Major with whom I had tied previously and I remained in the contest. Neither of us had before reached this height, and the bar seemed awfully high to me. It was not yet over. The bar was still being raised, half inch after each successful jump. We both succeeded clearing the bar at 5 feet 11 inches. The next half inch proved the crucial height for both of us. I missed my first jump as he did, but I was successful at the second attempt. Unfortunately for him he missed with his next two tries, which gave me the championship at 5 feet 11 and half inches. I was naturally elated, not for myself only but also for the RAF AND my own squadron 141. I sent a telegram to the CO Major Baker. I wonder if Air Marshal Sir Brian Baker would still remember the young Australian who won these athletic events? In due course I received from the RAF committee through Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co Ltd, of London, a 22 carat gold medallion to commemorate the event. On the obverse side, the three services are depicted, Navy a warship, Army a tank and Airforce an aeroplane in flight. The other side bore the inscription ‘Presented to Lieut. F.C. Penny’. This, of course, is one of my treasured possessions.
    I returned to Dublin a few days later to find that another letter had been received from the Australian authorities in London, requesting me to report for repatriation back to Australia and as my CO had no valid reason for retaining my services, I made arrangements to go to London. I handed over my administrative duties, attended three farewell parties, Officers’ Mess, Mess and WRAF and said a very regretful farewell to all my good friends in 141, and this time took the boat from North Wall, Dublin to Holyhead and from there by train to London, where I reported to the Australian Headquarters. They posted me to a repatriation camp at Flowerdown near Winchester.
    When I arrived here I discovered that I had met the CO previously. He suggested that if I were not in a hurry to return to Australia he would be happy to have me on his staff as one of his officers, a job which involved taking charge of groups of officers who were being repatriated back to the countries from whence they had come. Frequent visits were made to Tilbury Southampton, Plymouth and Liverpool. On occasions there were as many as 30-40 officers, many of them senior to me, and when their ship sailed from Liverpool it was necessary to arrange overnight accommodation in London. It would need no stretch of imagination to understand their desire to have what to them was ‘a somewhat riotous time’, on their last night in London. There was little I could do about it, but to put them on their honour to report to me at a given London station the following morning.
    A passage was arranged for me on the Indarra sailing early December, but just before sailing time I was asked to give my cabin to a woman who, because of emergency, wanted to leave England immediately. This I agreed to do and ultimately sailed on the Orsova in the same month. We were in Gibraltar on Christmas Day and after a most happy voyage, returned home to Australia in January 1920 after a most eventful!! happy though dangerous time away.

C HAPTER 6
Vice Admiral H.T. Baillie Grohman
    Details
    This account is taken from Admiral Grohman’s personal papers which are held in the Imperial War Museum. He trained as a cadet aboard the HMS Britannia . He served aboard the cruiser, HMS Grafton , the flagship of the British navy’s Pacific Fleet from September